This invention relates to authoring and delivering wrap packages of cards, and more particularly, to using analytics to define custom content to be included in a wrap package of cards prior to delivery.
The above-listed non-prior art related applications describe a new media content type, referred to as “wrap packages”. The terms “wrap” or “package” are interchangeably used herein to refer to wrap packages.
A wrap package is a collection of cards that are each selectively authored to include (i) one or more types of media content such as text, images, photos, video, etc., (ii) application functionality and/or (iii) e-commerce related services. The cards in a wrap are also typically authored to define one or more linear sequence(s) when consumed. With wrap packages, an author thus has the ability to select media content, combined with application-like and website functionality, and combine them all into an elegant, card-based, narrative. As a result, the author can create compelling stories using media, interwoven with interactive functionality and/or e-commerce services. Wrap packages are, therefore, ideal, but not necessarily limited to, delivering a unique, interactive, “book-like”, experience over the mobile web, which previously has been not possible.
The cards of wrap packages are navigation metaphors. Each card can be authored to group related information that can be easily consumed within a user interface experience by swipe (or other simple gesture) navigation from card-to-card.
Cards have a visual representation intended to evoke similarities to their physical counterparts. They have a fixed portrait aspect ratio that makes them ideally suited to current mobile computing devices as well as easy to scale up to and arrange to fit other display form factors, such as provided on laptop and desktop computers as well as smart TVs. The physical card metaphor can also extend to the interactive behavior of cards in a wrap, as the user can use gestures that evoke the “flipping” of cards in a deck or bound booklet to navigate between them.
In addition, each card in a wrap has defined content that is displayed in a predefined layout. In general, the cards in a wrap have the same size and aspect ratio. The aspect ratio is preferably device independent and is preferably maintained regardless of device orientation and/or display window size.
Cards are like containers for holding and distributing media content, such as text, images, photos, audio, video and the like. In addition, cards may also contain or hold executable objects that provide or enable real-time features, such as application functionality (i.e., the ability to schedule appointments, engage in online chats or conversations) and support e-commerce related services (i.e., the ability to purchase goods and/or services). The multimedia content and/or interactive services contained by any given card can be determined entirely in advance or as late as the moment the wrap is consumed by the end-user. Such media content and executable objects are sometimes referred to herein as card “assets.”
Cards, however, can differ from their physical counter-parts in ways that provide for unique presentations of content or the aforementioned application functionality and/or e-commerce services. For example, a gallery card provides the ability to present an expanded amount of content in a vertically stacked orientation such that the overall length (i.e., the number of cards or in a horizontal sequence) of the wrap is not affected by the amount of content in the wrap. This aids in navigation since the user can flip to the previous or next card regardless of their current position in the gallery.
Wrap packages are delivered and rendered in a browser as a sharable and savable message. Wrap packages thus provides an app-like user experience that is delivered as a live, interactive, message from a cloud-based platform, using for example, the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. A wrap is thus a portable container of multimedia content, and interactive services, designed for ease of delivery, exchange, and consumption.
Wrap packages are also consumable anywhere, meaning they have the ability to be resolved and displayed on just about any type of device (mobile phones, laptops, tablets, wearable computing devices such as smart watches, desktop computers, smart TVs, etc.), regardless of the platform (e.g., iOS, Android, Microsoft, etc.). Wrap packages are thus platform and device independent. Wraps do not have to be written for any specific platform, such as iOS or Android, or for any specific device or class of devices (e.g. smart phones, tablets, desktops, etc.).
Wrap packages are thus a mobile-first marketing and commerce platform that ideally provides a beautiful world of storytelling in bite-size moments that get and hold attention. In addition, the unique characteristics of (i) authoring once and running on almost any device, regardless of the operating system or the type and (ii) the ability to easily distribute wrap packages similar to messages, together are a powerful construct that potentially can make the use of wrap packages near universal.
By creating wrap packages, businesses and other organizations can simply and cheaply create, distribute, and manage storytelling mobile web user experiences, app like functionality and e-commerce, all in the context of wrap packages delivered directly to consumers. Where businesses used to have to build destinations (websites) or use monolithic systems (apps), they can now provide consumers, particularly mobile device users, with a user experience that delivers the content they want combined with a complementary palette of functions and/or e-commerce related services.
Wrap packages thus solves a number of current problem with the mobile web. Unlike web sites, wrap packages are easy to consume on mobile devices and offer the opportunity to create compelling narratives and user experiences. In addition, the ability to incorporate app-like functionality into wraps provides a multi-function app-like experience, without having to develop an app, be in an app, download an app, or open several apps.
The uniqueness of wrap packages creates opportunities for business and other organizations alike to innovate and improve marketing efforts, customer support, and user experiences in ways previously not possible, because an enabling interface and platform did not exist. Wrap packages can thus potentially define the next generation interactive web paradigm, particularly for mobile, although for desktop and other types of devices as well.
Data analytics is the science of examining raw data for the purpose of discovering insights, conclusions and/or meaningful patterns. Analytics typically relies on the simultaneous application of statistics, computer programming and operations research to quantify some desired measure of performance. In many industries, data analytics is used to allow companies and organization to make better business decisions. For example, many businesses and organizations commonly apply analytics to business data, to describe, predict, and improve business performance. Specific areas within analytics include predictive analytics, enterprise decision management, retail analytics, store assortment and stock-keeping unit optimization, market optimization, market mix modeling, and web analytics, sales force sizing and optimization, price and promotion modeling, predictive science, credit risk analysis and fraud analytics.
In the above-mentioned non-prior art U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/170,438, an authoring tool for the authoring of wrap packages is described. With this tool, one or more authors can manually create wrap packages. During the course of one or more authoring sessions, author(s) may author a set of cards of a wrap package by (a) selecting a card type among a plurality of different card types, (b) selecting a card template from one or more card templates of the selected card type, (c) authoring a new card by copying and modifying the selected card template of the selected card type, (d) repeating steps (a) through (c) for authoring a plurality of cards of the wrap package and (f) defining one or more sequence order(s) for rendering the plurality of cards in the wrap package.
Although the above-referenced authoring tool is a powerful tool that enables the creation of beautiful, graphic-intensive wrap packages with embedded application functionality and/or e-commerce services, the process is labor intensive since the authoring is manual. The authoring tool thus has limited application in certain circumstances, such as in situations where it is desirable to create and distribute a large number of wrap packages, each with custom content. A system and method for automatically authoring and delivering wrap packages of cards with custom content to target individuals is therefore needed.